The field of the disclosure relates generally to a cleaning apparatus and, more specifically, to a steam cleaning head that may be used for cleaning a contaminated surface.
Cleaning operations are generally used to improve the aesthetic appearance of, and to prepare contaminated surfaces for further processing. Conventional methods for cleaning a contaminated surface generally fall into two categories, mechanical and chemical. Mechanical cleaning generally includes physically removing and/or collecting contaminants with a cloth or other suitable material, and chemical cleaning generally involves using a solvent to break down contamination such that it may be more easily removed from the contaminated surface. Generally, both mechanical and chemical cleaning methods may be used simultaneously to perform a desired cleaning operation.
With respect to cleaning large contaminated surfaces, some known operations used to remove contaminants may include initially applying a cleaning chemical to the contaminated surface and allowing the cleaning chemical to remain on the contaminated surface for a predetermined period of time to break down the contamination. The chemical and broken down contaminants are then rinsed away. However, such cleaning processes may produce a large amount of chemical waste that may be costly to dispose of.
In another known cleaning operation, a microfiber medium is attached to a steam cleaning apparatus such that the microfiber medium can be rubbed against a contaminated surface while steam is delivered thereto. This known cleaning operation generally does not use chemicals or detergents to facilitate cleaning the contaminated surface. However, in at least some known cleaning operations, the use of only steam and mechanical rubbing may not be sufficient to clean or strip a contaminated surface.